Cast into Oblivion
by Katrillion506
Summary: Nana bursts through the door and Muhyo & Roji get sent on an unexpected adventure. Where to, you ask? Well, I guess you'll have to read to find out!
1. Chapter 1

It was a warm and sunny Saturday morning, the birds were chirping, and (after much begging and pleading from Roji) he and Muhyo were taking a day off.

Roji was baking pastries in his adorable pink apron, and Muhyo had his feet up on the table reading his Jabin when Nana burst in the door wielding a ray gun and looking just a little bit insane.

Nana grinned maniacally. "MWAHAHAHAHA!"

Nana pointed the gun at Muhyo and he looked up from his Jabin, annoyed at the interruption. "Any last words, Muhyo?!"

He glared at her over his book. "Get out."

She threw her head back and laughed crazily again. "Not in your dreams short stack!" She shot him with her ray gun and poof! He vanished. No dust, no ashes, nothing left except for his Jabin.

Roji ran into the room when he heard the shot and gasped when he saw Nana holding a gun. "N-N-Nana!? Why do you have a gun?!" Roji glanced at where Muhyo used to be and saw that he wasn't there anymore. He could feel tears pricking at the corners of his eyes and took a step backwards. "D-did you kill Muhyo?"

Nana gasped and put her hand on her collarbone in shock. "What do you think I am, a monster? No! Of course I didn't kill him! I just sent him somewhere else is all!"

He paled. "W-where did you s-send him Nana?"

She smiled and pointed the gun that had been pointed at the floor at Roji. "You're about to find out! HAHAHA!" She shot him square in the chest and his apron fluttered to the ground, now that its owner was gone.

She sniffed the air. "Do I smell... cinnamon rolls?"


	2. Chapter 2

Muhyo whispered as loud as he dared. "Wake up idiot!" Muhyo smacked Roji again making him groan. "Wake up!" Muhyo shook Roji's shoulders and his eyes shot open as he recognized the voice.

"Muhyo! You're alive!" He quickly got to his knees and bear-hugged Muhyo.

"Keep your voice down!" Muhyo stiffened. "And get off me!" He shoved Roji off of him, making him fall backwards and onto his butt.

Roji looked around in confusion. "Where are we? And why are we hiding behind a rock?"

"I don't know where we are, and we're hiding because there are enemies nearby." Roji's eyes got bigger when he said enemies.

"Enemies? Like ghosts?" Muhyo shook his head. "No. Not like ghosts. But I'm willing to bet that whatever's in that chest over there can give us a clue as to what's going on."

Roji looked at where Muhyo was pointing. There was a chest maybe thirty feet away, but there was some sort of awful creature with the head and torso of a woman attached to the body and legs of a spider the in the way. "How do we get past that? And what is that?!"

"I don't know. But take this, you might need it." Muhyo handed Roji an iron dagger, and he looked at it before looking at the one Muhyo had set next to himself. "Where'd you get these?"

"I found them when I woke up next to that thing back there." Muhyo jabbed his thumb towards something Roji couldn't see because the rock was in the way. Roji peeked out from behind it and was shocked by what he saw.

He didn't know how to describe it. It was... it was a giant eyeball made of flames with three tendrils of fire on each side, and there was a giant black claw on each side if the eye coming out of the earth with what looked like blood covering the tips and dripping down the sides.

Roji gagged and covered his mouth when he saw that last part. He ducked down behind the cover of the rock when he saw a mass of writhing stones with an almost human form turning towards him.

He turned to Muhyo. "Did Nana do all of this?" Muhyo shook his head. "I don't think so. She probably just sent us here somehow." Roji looked at him confusedly. "Why would she do that?"

Muhyo shrugged. "Maybe she was possessed." He fiddled with the dagger in his hands.

Roji gasped. "Oh no! We have to help her!" Muhyo hit him with his magic law book, leaving a bump the size of a tennis ball on the top of his head. "We have to get out of here first, idiot!"

Roji rubbed the top of his head where the book had made contact. "S-sorry."

Muhyo looked over to the chest and saw that the monster had its back turned. "Now's our chance." He grabbed Roji's wrist and headed for the chest. "Stay crouched; it'll make it harder for it to see you."

Roji whispered so the creature didn't hear him. "How do you know that?"

Muhyo stopped and looked puzzled for a second, then shook his head. "I don't know, just get down!"

"Okay okay!" Roji crouched and followed Muhyo towards the chest.

They were almost there when the monster turned around and saw them. it summoned a smaller version of itself and attacked Roji while the smaller creature attacked Muhyo. Roji was suprised at first but after he took a hit he snapped out of it and started fighting back.

Muhyo defeated the smaller summoned whatever-it-was, and went to help Roji with the larger one. It took a minute, but they managed to kill the thing and by some miracle weren't seen by any more enemies. They ran over to the chest and slumped against a nearby rock, panting and covered in blood, most of it their own.

After they had rested a moment and caught their breath, Muhyo reached over and opened the chest. On the very top was a note. He sat down next to Roji and they read the note together. It read:

_Hi guys! I bet you're wondering what happened yeah? I've taken over Nana's body. Only for a short while of course! I needed to so I could hold the gun. A not-quite-solid being can't hold things very well, you know? But don't worry, she won't remember a thing! And let me guess; you want to know where you are, don't you? Well you're in Oblivion! And the only way to get out is to get the Sigil Stone from the tower on top of the mountain to your north. I've put all the supplies in the chest that you could need along with some helpful information. Don't want you to die after all! Have fun and good luck!_

Muhyo re-read the note. "If it didn't want us to die then why did it send us here?" Roji pulled the chest closer so that it was between them and shrugged. "Maybe this is just part of some sick game?"

Roji took out a few pieces of parchment from the top. The first one he grabbed was a map on the front and on the back it explained how to cast spells.

Roji was amazed at just how many spells and types of spells there were. Near the bottom saw a 'heal other 50 points on touch' spell and right under it a 'heal self 50 points' spell, and remembered how badly he and Muhyo were hurt.

Roji put his hand on Muhyo's shoulder and concentrated on casting the healing spell. Muhyo felt a tingling sensation spread from his shoulder to every corner of his body. Roji pulled his hand away after a couple of seconds. "What did you just do?"

"I healed you, look!" Muhyo looked at where his various cuts, scratches, and bruises used to be and saw that they were gone. Even the blood that had dripped onto his clothes and dried was gone.

"Let me see that." Muhyo dropped the piece of paper that he had grabbed from the chest when Roji got his and took the one Roji was handing over.

Muhyo skimmed over the page until he found the spell that Roji used and gripped his arm in an attempt to use it on Roji, but nothing happened. He concentrated harder and his fingers dug into Roji's arm with the effort, but still nothing happened.

Roji winced at Muhyo's harsh grip and peeled his fingers away from his arm. "I guess you can't do it. Don't worry though, I'm sure there's a bunch of cool spells you can do that I can't!" He smiled and cast a heal spell on himself and afterwards he and Muhyo looked over the list of spells. Restoration, Alteration, and Illusion spells appealed most to Roji, while on the other hand Muhyo liked the Destruction, Conjuration, and Mysticism spells the best.

After they were done with that, Muhyo took out the last piece of paper. It told them what kind of potions were in the chest and when to use them, how to use repair hammers and lockpicks, and anything else they might need to know about the contents of the chest, and at the very bottom of the paper it told them: **DON'T GO IN THE LAVA UNLESS YOU'RE FEELING SUICIDAL :D**

When they were done with that, Muhyo reached into the chest and pulled out a full set of glass armor. First he took out the cuirass, then the greaves, the gauntlets, and lastly the boots. He held the armor out to Roji. "Put these on."

Roji looked at the armor he was holding then back to Muhyo. "But what about you? Don't you-" He saw Muhyo pull out a set of daedric armor. "Oh. Never mind."

After they had figured out how to put the armor on, they looked through the rest of the chest. There was a daedric longsword for Muhyo and a glass shortsword for Roji. There were five health potions, five damage health poisons, and five restore magicka potions to split between them. There were twelve repair hammers and only four lockpicks. At the very bottom there were two pieces of enchanted jewelry; one 'shield 40% and fortify blade 20 pts.' ring that Muhyo took, and next to it a 'fortify magicka 100 pts. and fortify alteration 20 pts.' amulet that Roji slipped on.

Roji looked at everything they had now, the two sets of armor, the jewelry, the potions, the repair hammers and lockpicks, and the swords. He looked at the tiny wooden chest that everything had been in. "Wait... how did everything fit in that tiny box?"

Muhyo tried to figure it out but gave up when he could think of no logical answer. "No idea, but we should probably leave soon."

Roji nodded. "Right." They both got up from behind the rock and headed up the path winding around the mountain.

The path they were on was mostly made up of broken up concrete slabs jammed into the dirt, but a little farther up, the path turned into a cobblestone road, although you could barely tell because of all the dirt, grime, bodily fluids, and scorch marks.

Roji looked up to see if he could spot the tower they were headed to, but from here it was just a speck in front of the boiling red sky. Roji shuddered thinking about what kind of creatures were waiting for them in there.

As they were walking up the broken path, an enemy with armor that looked just like Muhyo's jumped out from behind a ruined stone pillar, startling Roji. "Muhyo! W-what is that?"

Muhyo drew his sword. "It's a Dremora Caitiff. Didn't you read the paper that told you what everything was?" Roji thought back to earlier and remembered how Muhyo had set down a page he was looking at before he had grabbed the list of spells from Roji. "I-I guess not."

"Tch. Idiot. Get your sword out!" Roji fumbled around trying to get his sword out and by the time he had managed to get a good grip on it the Dremora Caitiff was almost dead. He swung forward clumsily and it barely did any damage, but the Caitiff was so close to death that it didn't matter.

After they had put their weapons away, Muhyo turned to Roji. "You suck with a blade."Roji looked down at his feet. "Sorry..." He looked back up and saw Muhyo walking away surprisingly fast for someone with such short legs. "Hey! Wait for me!"

Roji caught up to Muhyo and as they were walking up the now cobblestone road, a shadow fell over them. Roji gasped and looked up, expecting to see some terrible creature about to swoop down from the sky and rend him limb from limb.

Instead, it was a giant black claw coming out from the earth on his left, near the edge of the lava ocean surrounding this land, and curling to the wall of earth on the other side of the path, blood dripping down the entire curve of the claw. Three of these claws were spaced out evenly along the road not very far from each other.

Roji let out a relieved breath and looked back to the road. They had only been walking for a few seconds before Muhyo suddenly stopped and thrust his arm out in front of Roji making him stagger.

Roji was about to say something when Muhyo shushed him and pointed to something that looked like a tiny triceratops standing on its two back legs less than forty feet away.

They crouched behind a rock on the side of the path so that they were out of view of the enemy. "What is that?" whispered Roji.

Muhyo got a spell ready. "It's called a Clannifear." Muhyo got out from behind the rock and shot a high level flame spell at the Clannifear, using up almost all of his magicka but killing the Clannifear instantly. Afterwards he took out a restore Magicka potion and drank it, filling his magicka to the max.

Roji looked at Muhyo and then to the Clannifear lying dead on the ground, wondering if he could do that spell too.

When Muhyo was done with the potion they continued down the path, taking care to step around the charred corpse.

After a while they hit a fork in the road. Where the two roads met there was a tall white column with what looked like fire on the very top, surrounded by multiple tiny white claws, or maybe teeth, pointed towards the sky.

They paid no attention to this, and headed towards the path that led right and up the mountain. Before they got to the fork though, Muhyo was hit with a fireball that luckily didn't do too much damage.

Muhyo looked back at the tower and saw that it was about to release another flare. Muhyo grabbed Roji's wrist and dragged him behind a boulder so that they were out of the tower's range of fire.

"Muhyo what- Oh no you're hurt!" Roji reached out to grab Muhyo's arm so he could heal him but Muhyo pushed him away. "I'm fine. Let's go." Muhyo got up and Roji went to follow him when a Clannifear that had been hiding nearby jumped out and swiped at his back, and fortunately for Roji its claws weren't able to pierce his armor.

Roji turned to see what had attacked him then ducked to avoid a claw to the face and remembered a spell he could use right now. He saw his chance when the Clannifear had tried to hit him with its front claws again and left itself exposed. He thrust his hand forwards and cast an absorb health spell.

Roji was now fully healed and the Clannifear was almost dead, only a few hit points left. Muhyo finished it off with a shock damage spell before it had a chance to swipe at Roji again.

Roji started to thank Muhyo but he was interrupted before he could. "Come on, we still have a long ways to go." Muhyo turned and walked up the path and Roji obediently followed careful not to go near the still twitching Clannifear.


	3. Chapter 4

The path wound up and on until it ended at a spot that was enclosed by rocks jutting up from the ground with only one small stone door on their right nestled in a wall of rock.

Roji was a bit fearful about what could be waiting for them on the other side of the stone door. "Should we go in Muhyo?"

"We don't really have much of a choice. Put your hand on the door." Roji was confused as to why he would want him to touch the door but he still did as Muhyo said, and the second Muhyo laid his hand on the door they were suddenly in a dark, damp cave that was illuminated by a faint red light coming from the cave floor itself.

Unlike Muhyo, Roji hadn't expected this to happen and jumped in surprise at the sudden change of surroundings. Unfortunately for Roji, these caves weren't meant for tall people and he banged his head on the cave ceiling when he jumped.

The sound of Roji gasping in pain attracted the attention of a nearby Flame Atronarch who shot a fireball at Muhyo. Roji cast a fire shield on Muhyo before he realized what he was doing and it hit Muhyo a split second before the fireball did.

After Muhyo got over the strange tingly sensation of getting hit by two different spells at once, he attacked the Flame Atronarch with a potent frost damage spell and killed it instantly.

Roji looked at Muhyo to make sure he was okay and saw that he had a really bad burn on his arm despite the fire shield Roji had cast on him. He placed a hand near the burn and cast a low level heal spell before Muhyo could push him away, healing him to full health and making the burn disappear. He stood up as much as he could with the low ceiling and took the opportunity to look around.

Behind him was the stone door they came in from, a couple of columns where stalactites and stalagmites connected, and some sort of pod-looking thing in the corner. "Hey Muhyo," Roji pointed at the pod, "what's that?" Muhyo looked at where Roji was pointing. "It's called a fleshy pod. They're used to store things."

Roji looked at the slimy-looking pod and shuddered when he thought about putting his hand in there to get whatever was inside. "I don't think I want to find out what's in it."

Muhyo grinned when he saw how grossed out Roji was and thought it would be fun to mess with him. "What if there's something useful in it?" He knew that the chances of finding something that could be of use to them were slim to none this early on, but Roji didn't.

Roji thought about it and decided that it was worth it if there was a chance it could help him and Muhyo. "Alright. I guess if it could help..."

He clenched his jaw and slid his arm in. He could feel the warm, sticky goo work its way under his armor and stick to his clothes and skin, only to get a silver war axe and some gold.

Muhyo grinned and looked at the slime covered loot Roji had placed on the cave floor in front of the pod. "Heh. Maybe you'll find something useful next time." He turned and went deeper into the cave and Roji followed, hoping that he would never have to do that again.

They hadn't gotten very far before they saw another Clannifear. Muhyo stopped, making Roji do the same in the cramped space. Before the Clannifear saw them Muhyo cast a drain health spell on it, and it died before it could find them.

They continued down the tunnel, edging around the dead Clannifear, and when they turned the corner Muhyo walked face first right into a scamp. The Scamp threw a fireball over Muhyo's head at Roji, surprising him. Roji cast an absorb health spell on the Scamp to replace the health he just lost as Muhyo unsheathed his sword.

Muhyo finished it off in just a few hits. Muhyo slipped his sword back into its place on his back and they stepped over the Scamp, continuing down the tunnels until they came to a small chamber carved into the left wall of the tunnel. It was just tall enough for Roji to not have to be hunched over, his tips of his hair barely skimming the lowest part of the ceiling.

In the far corner was another fleshy pod and Roji shuddered when he looked at it, remembering the feeling of mucus getting under his armor and covering his arm all the way up to his elbow; in fact, some of it was still there.

Muhyo, paying no attention to Roji, walked over to the fleshy pod and put his fingers into the slit on the top and pulled it open, looking inside. Amidst all of the slime was a couple of old looking bones and a repair hammer. Muhyo left these and went over to the far wall and started taking off his armor.

Roji walked over to the far wall and noticed what Muhyo was doing. "Muhyo, why are you taking your armor off?" Muhyo paused in removing his gauntlets and looked up. "I'm going to repair it." He went back to what he was doing and ignored Roji.

Roji looked down at all the cracks, burn marks and blood on his armor. "Yeah I probably should too." He started to take off his gauntlets when he stopped and looked at Muhyo. "Hey Muhyo, what was in that pod?"

Muhyo didn't bother to stop hammering at a particularly stubborn dent in his gauntlets. "Some bones and a repair hammer." Roji arched an eyebrow. "Why'd you leave the repair hammer?"

Muhyo looked up for all of half a second. "If you want it, go get it yourself." Muhyo set aside the gauntlets and grabbed his cuirass.

Roji really didn't want to reach into that pod so he just hoped that he had enough repair hammers and started taking off his armor.

After they got their weapons and armor repaired with only a few broken repair hammers, they re-equipped everything and headed deeper into the tunnels, Roji making sure to lean down again.

The tunnel curved to the left, so they didn't see the Clannifear ahead of them until it swiped at Muhyo. He drew his sword before the Clannifear could snap at him with its razor-sharp beak and did a forward power attack, finishing it off with a frost damage spell.

Roji looked at Muhyo and saw a deep scratch under his right eye that was bleeding badly and reached out to heal him before he could object.

Roji followed Muhyo farther into the tunnel and before long they came into another room like before, minus the fleshy pod. They turned right into another tunnel and a few feet away encountered a small stone door like the one they entered the cave from in the first place.

Roji drew in a breath and ran over to the door as soon as he saw it. He smiled and looked at Muhyo. "Maybe this is the way out!" Muhyo walked up to the door. "Tch. Better be." Muhyo muttered.

Roji put his hand on the door and got butterflies in his stomach when he thought they were finally getting out of the caves. Of course, it was probably just as dangerous outside as it was in here, but the small damp tunnels that smelled like death made him more on edge, and he already had plenty of that.

Muhyo put his hand on the door and they were transported to another cave, and this one smelled even worse. When Roji realised they were in another cave, all his butterflies died of agony and he was pretty sure he was going to cry.

Muhyo glared at Roji, who was trying not to let the dam burst. "Stop crying. We still have to get out of here. "Roji wiped his eyes. "Right. Sorry."

Roji followed Muhyo to a tunnel entrance on the far side of the room, and they were halfway to it when a Dremora came out of the tunnel. Roji's heart skipped a beat when he saw the Dremora and the both of them crouched behind a stone pillar big enough to hide them before they could be spotted.

Muhyo was reaching for his sword when Roji stopped him and leaned closer so he could whisper without the Dremora hearing him. "I want to try something." Muhyo looked over his shoulder at Roji. "Will it get one or both of us killed?"

"No." Well...Possibly. But he wasn't going to tell Muhyo that. Muhyo looked at the Dremora. "Fine. Do whatever you want." Roji concentrated for a moment and then cast an invisibility spell on himself.

Muhyo looked suprised for a moment before Roji grabbed his shoulder, making himself visible to Muhyo and the both of them invisible to anyone else.

Roji slowly stepped out from behind the pillar to see if he would be spotted, and when he saw that he wouldn't be, he quickly dragged Muhyo behind him and into the tunnel before the spell wore off. He let go of Muhyo's shoulder, now out of the Dremora's line of sight, and grinned.

Muhyo saw this and narrowed his eyes. "And what if it comes back in here?" Roji's crushed feeling of victory was apparent on his face. "Tch. That's what I thought." Muhyo walked down farther into the tunnels and Roji followed, looking like a puppy that just got kicked in the face.

They entered a large room with a wide tunnel entrance on the right side of the room that sloped downwards. Roji followed Muhyo down the tunnel and ducked just in time to avoid a fireball to the face.

He looked around for what had cast the fireball. He saw that it was a Fire Atronarch farther down the tunnel and cast a silence spell on it before it could prepare another spell, and Muhyo cast a weak frost damage spell before running forwards and killing it with a blow from his sword.

They continued past the smoldering remains of the Flame Atronarch and went through a small tunnel on their left. They walked silently through the tunnels for a while before a Scamp and a Clannifear came out from behind a corner. Muhyo pulled out his sword and attacked the Scamp, and after getting over his surprise Roji pulled out his sword just in time to stop the Clannifear from biting into his cuirass.

Roji swung his sword clumsily and grazed the Clannifear, doing very little damage. The Clannifear took the opening and was about to rip Roji's neck open when Muhyo sank his sword into the Clannifear's back. It shrieked and fell to the ground, taking the sword with him.

Roji put his sword away while Muhyo put his foot on the back of the Clannifear and yanked his sword out. Roji let out a breath. "Thanks Muhyo."

Muhyo slid his sword back into its sheath. "You should learn to use a blade before you get yourself killed." Muhyo turned and went deeper into the tunnel and Roji followed wordlessly behind him.

They were only walking for a moment before they came to another door. Roji put his hand on the carved stone feeling hopeful about what lay on the other side. "Maybe this time it really is the door to outside!"

"Yeah, maybe." Muhyo put his hand on the door and they were instantly transported outside. Finally! They were both happy that they were out of the caves, but the fact that they were still here in this hellish wasteland kind of outweighed that.

Roji followed Muhyo up the path. As they passed between two large stone columns Roji craned his neck to look at the two bloody claws at the top of each one. While Roji was looking at the claws Muhyo saw a Flame Atronarch getting ready to cast a fireball at him.

Roji returned his gaze back to the road and saw a Flame Atronarch hurl a fireball at Muhyo. "Muhyo watch out!" Muhyo pulled out his sword and ducked under the fireball just before it would've hit him and ran forward, plunging his sword deep into the Fire Atronarch's stomach all the way up to the hilt. The Flame Atronarch made an ear-splitting screech and fell to the ground, reduced to nothing more than a pile of embers.

Muhyo flipped the Fire Atronarch over with his foot and ripped his sword free. After he sheathed his sword they continued down the path. It started to slope towards the right, and the only things keeping them from sliding into the lava were the rocks jutting up from the ground near the edge of the road and good balance.

As they got farther, the path started to get steeper little by little. They were passing a couple of large boulders when a Clannifear jumped out and raked its claws against Muhyo's face, taking him by surprise.

Muhyo pulled out his sword and blocked the Clannifear's next attack, and Roji stepped back to cast a shield spell on him.

Roji was debating whether or not he should try to help Muhyo even though he knew Muhyo could handle it by when all of a sudden he felt a small prick in his stomach. He looked down and saw the tip of a Dremora longsword that had been plunged into his back and had gone all the way through.

The wielder of the blade violently ripped the sword out of him, making the wound bigger and bleed heavier, and the small prick turned into a crippling white hot blaze.

Roji screamed in agony as the blade was ripped out and he fell to the ground. He clamped his hand over his wound trying to stop the bleeding, but he was getting weaker and weaker, and was sure he was about to pass out from blood loss.

Roji looked up and saw a Dremora Churl standing over him, holding his sword above his head about to deliver the finishing blow. Roji thrush his hand up and cast an absorb health spell before everything turned black.

Muhyo finished the Clannifear with a fire damage spell and was about to sheath his sword when two more jumped out at him from behind a boulder. He wasn't as suprised this time and he managed to block the next attack. He killed the one that attacked him first and was about to do the same to the other when he heard Roji scream.

He finished the Clannifear quickly and ran over to Roji to see him absorb all of the Dremora's health, then pass out. Muhyo shoved the dead Dremora off Roji and checked for a pulse. It was weak, but it was there. He took out a couple of restore health potions and lifted Roji's head, pouring them down Roji's throat one by one.

After the fourth health potion Roji woke up and sat up so fast Muhyo almost fell over. He prodded his stomach through his armor and realised that wound was gone. He saw the dead Churl lying face down in the dirt a foot away and sighed with relief.

"Thanks Muhyo. I thought I was dead!" He laughed nervously. "Yeah whatever. We need to get going." Muhyo got up and walked away, following the path up. Roji hastily jumped to his feet. "H-hey! Don't leave without me!"


	4. Chapter 5

As they walked the path was getting steeper and steeper, and after a few minutes the two of them had to climb over rocks and boulders to stay on the path. With much effort they managed to get to the top and found that the path ended at a small stone door.

Roji's spirit dropped instantly when he saw the door. "No... Not more caves!" Muhyo walked past Roji and over to the door. He placed his hand on the smooth stone and looked at Roji. "Shut up and put your hand on the door."

Roji sighed and walked slowly over to the door. "Alright..." Roji grudgingly placed his hand on the door and they were both relocated to a small dank room with a faint red light emanating from the cracked and broken floor. Roji turned to Muhyo. "Does it feel warm in here to-?"

Roji didn't get to finish his question before a fireball slammed into his upper arm, scorching his flesh through the armor. Roji yelped in surprise and cast a heal spell on himself, wincing as he lifted up the wrong arm while Muhyo unsheathed his sword and took care of the Fire Atronarch.

After the tingly sensation had subsided, Roji cast a fire shield spell on Muhyo, who as it turns out didn't need it since he finished the Fire Atronarch off before it had a chance to cast another fireball.

Muhyo sheathed his sword and led the way down a tunnel on the far side of the room. After a moment of walking they came into another small room with the same strange glow coming up from the floor.

Muhyo stopped Roji and pointed to a Dremora Churl in the corner with its back turned to them. Muhyo took out a bottle of poison from his inventory and poured it on his blade, and Roji, trying to be as quiet as possible cast a shield spell on Muhyo.

Muhyo crouched and snuck up on the Dremora, doing a forward power attack that did six times the normal damage since the Churl didn't know Muhyo was there. The sneak attack along with the poison took out most of the Dremora's health, and Muhyo finished it off with a couple of quick hits before it even had a chance to turn around and see what was attacking him.

Roji, feeling even more useless than usual since Muhyo didn't need healing, followed Muhyo into yet _another _tunnel too small for someone of his height.

It didn't take long for them to come to a bend in the tunnels and Roji stopped Muhyo before they turned the corner. Muhyo glared at him for invading his personal space and Roji quickly removed his hand from his boss' shoulder before it got cut off. "S-sorry! I just uh... h-hold on a second please?"

Roji closed his eyes and focused, not sure if it would work or if he was doing it right, and cast a detect life spell on himself. He opened his eyes, unsure if the spell had worked, and saw that there was a shimmery purple blob on the wall that hadn't been there earlier. "Muhyo, do you see that?" He pointed to the wall.

"See what?" Muhyo looked blankly at the wall. "There's nothing there."

Roji moved his head a little bit to the right and saw that the blob moved when he did. He moved his head back to where it was and blob moved again. "I think there's something on the other side of the wall. It looks like... a Dremora maybe?"

Roji wasn't sure if Muhyo believed him or not, but Muhyo pulled out his sword and stepped around the corner. Roji watched as Muhyo, or the small purple blob that resembled him, reached out, probably casting a spell on the bigger blob and hit it a couple of times with his sword, only getting hit himself once. The shimmery purple glow that the Dremora was giving off faded away and was gone in a second.

Roji hesitantly poked his head around the corner as Muhyo was sheathing his sword, and saw that the spell must've worn off since Muhyo wasn't shining anymore. Roji stepped over the dead body of the Dremora to follow Muhyo as he led the way deeper into the caves.

They reached a room with a fleshy pod and Roji hoped that whatever was in there was worth getting covered in goo for because he knew that Muhyo would make him look inside whether he wanted to or not.

Roji walked over to the pod and stuck his arm inside, closing his eyes and gagging at the slimy feeling. He pulled out some arrows, twenty to be exact, and set them down on the ground in front of the fleshy pod. He put his arm back in the pod and fished around for the other thing he felt in there. He pulled out an elven bow and set it down next to the arrows.

After wiping most of the slime off of the bow and arrows, he showed his treasure to Muhyo. "Do you think I could use these better than the sword?"

"Why not? Maybe then you'll be less useless. Now hurry up and equip them so we can go."

Roji stood up and equipped the arrows first, then the bow. He tried to walk towards Muhyo but for some reason his feet wouldn't come off the ground. He tried to lift his feet, but no matter how hard he pulled they wouldn't budge, as if they were glued to the floor.

He had no idea what was happening, so he started to panic. "Muhyo help! I can't move!" Muhyo leaned against the wall and watched as Roji continued to struggle. "Drop something. You're probably over-encumbered."

Roji gave up on trying to move his feet and looked at Muhyo confused. "What does that mean?" Muhyo crossed his arms. "It means you're carrying more than you can handle."

"So I just have to get rid of something? Well..." Roji pulled out his sword and examined the fine edge. "I guess I could drop this. I'm probably not going to use it now that I have a bow." He tossed it on the ground but didn't feel any difference. He paused, and then took a step forward, a victorious grin on his face now that he was able to move.

Muhyo was getting impatient waiting for this idiot and started to walk down the tunnel, leaving Roji behind. "Hurry up; I plan on getting home before dinner."


	5. Chapter 6

After a while of walking through the tunnels, the two ran into another Scamp. They both stopped and Muhyo cast a high-level shock damage spell powerful enough to kill it before it noticed them.

They edged around the Scamp, which was hard to do because of the cramped space, and trudged up a steep incline until the path leveled out and took a right turn.

The pair turned the corner and saw yet _another_ Scamp, less than ten feet away and with its back turned to them.

Roji was about to prepare a shield spell for Muhyo, although he doubted he needed it, when he realized that Muhyo hadn't even pulled out his sword yet. He was just standing there looking at him!

Muhyo crossed his arms and leaned against the tunnel wall, laughing inwardly at the look of confusion and panic on Roji's face. Roji motioned frantically to the Scamp then pointed to the sword on Muhyo's belt. All he got in response was Muhyo pointing to him, then to the unsuspecting Scamp.

Roji's eyes widened when he understood that Muhyo wanted him to kill the Scamp. Roji shook his head and pointed to Muhyo, silently mouthing the word 'you'.

Muhyo raised his hand to his mouth, about to whistle and draw the attention of the Scamp when Roji frantically waved his hands in front of himself, begging for him to stop.

Muhyo lowered his hand and watched while Roji pulled out his bow and an arrow to go with it. Roji pulled the arrow back, aimed at the back of the Scamp's head, then hesitated and closed his eyes before he let the arrow go.

There was a sickening squelch-thud as the arrow sliced through the Scamp's skull, brain, and then finally pierced through the other side.

Roji opened his eyes and let out his breath, relieved that he hadn't missed, when the Scamp's howl tore through the cramped tunnel and reverberated off the walls, making it seem more thunderous than it actually was. The Scamp spun around and fixed its gaze on Roji.

Roji felt the bile rise in his throat when he saw the Scamp's eyeball hanging from the tip of the arrow, dripping a mixture of blood and some viscous clear liquid down the shaft of the arrow, combining with the blood from the eye socket and trickling down its cheek.

The Scamp screech again, this time a mixture of rage and bloodlust rather than surprise and pain, making Roji feel like all of his insides had turned to jelly. "M-M-M-Muhyo," Roji stuttered, "is this p-p-possible?"

He looked at Muhyo, perhaps for some help out of this mess, only to find that he wasn't there anymore. "Muhyo? Muhyo where did you go?!"

Roji brought his attention back to the Scamp and ducked when it swiped at him, the bow he was holding poking him in the side and reminding him that there was only one way out of this unless he wanted to die or run away, and neither of those sounded very appealing at the moment.

The Scamp raised its hand to strike again, and Roji sidestepped to avoid a blow that was probably strong enough to snap his neck. Before the Scamp could attack again Roji pulled out an arrow, quickly aimed it at the center of the Scamp's chest, and let go.

The Scamp let out a wail of agony and fell to the ground, the second arrow having taken the last bit of health that it had left. Roji put his bow away and turned to the mouth of the side tunnel to catch up to Muhyo, if that was where he went, and a huge grin spread across his face when he saw Muhyo standing in the exact same spot he had been in earlier. "Muhyo! You're back!"

He dropped to his knees and captured Muhyo in a bear hug. Muhyo wedged his hand in between himself and Roji and pushed away as hard as he could. "Get _off_ me you crybaby. And I was never gone." Roji fell backwards and landed on his butt. "Sorry... Wait, what do you mean you were never gone? I looked and saw that you weren't there."

Muhyo turned and started to walk away while Roji scrambled to get up. "Invisibility potion." Roji fell into step behind Muhyo. "Where did you get an invisibility potion?" Muhyo didn't bother to stop and look back at Roji. "I found it on the body of a Dremora earlier."

They walked on in silence, turning left down a slope when they came to it, and came into a room with a Clannifear and a Scamp.

At the same moment Muhyo pulled out his sword, Roji took out his bow and an arrow, pulling the arrow all the way back to his cheek.

Muhyo ran forwards and stabbed his sword through the Scamp's chest at the exact moment Roji's arrow speared its chest, and the double hit took out all of its health. Before Roji could reach back and pull out another arrow, Muhyo turned to the Clannifear and beheaded the minor Daedra with lightning speed.

Muhyo sheathed his sword and turned to Roji. "We can leave whenever you're done gawking."

Roji realized his mouth was hanging open and quickly snapped it shut. "Sorry."

Muhyo spun around and began to march into another small tunnel. "Just try to keep up."

It didn't take them more than half a minute to reach another small stone door. Without saying anything, they put their hands on the cold stone and in that instant they were taken out of the tunnels and placed outside.

Roji breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that they weren't in those horrible tunnels anymore. Roji looked at the broken and bloodied sky; he never thought he would be so relieved by such a gruesome sight. Roji smiled. "Hey Muhyo, maybe we're close to the tower!"

"Maybe." Muhyo started down the trail, careful not to slip and fall on the steep incline, and Roji followed, also mindful of the angle of the path. Muhyo stopped. "Do you hear that?"

Confused, Roji tilted his head. "Hear what? Is something wrong Muhyo?"

Muhyo turned around and looked at something above Roji. Roji was curious as to what Muhyo was looking at but didn't get a chance to look up because Muhyo yanked him forwards by the wrist, nearly making him lose his footing and fall off the edge of the path.

Roji turned around just as the falling boulders smashed into the ground where he had been standing less than a second ago. The two watched as the last of the rocks fell from the cliff above and tumbled off the edge of the path and into the murky red darkness below.

Muhyo looked up at Roji. "You're welcome." He turned around and half slid, half walked down the steep path.

Roji could feel the beginnings of tears in his eyes. "Muhyo, you… you saved my life!" Muhyo stopped and looked back at Roji. "I wouldn't have had to if you paid attention. Now _move_."

Roji lowered his head and followed behind Muhyo. "Sorry."

The path started to curve to the right, and they were both relieved when it also began to level out. All of a sudden Muhyo stopped and crouched down behind a boulder, motioning for Roji to do the same. Roji quickly bent down behind Muhyo. "Is something wrong Muhyo?"

Muhyo readied his most powerful shock damage spell. "Enemies. Get your bow ready." Roji pulled his bow out. "How many are there?"

"Three. A Clannifear, a Flame Atronarch, and a Dremora." Muhyo peeked out from behind the rock while holding his hand out in front of himself, palm facing outwards.

Muhyo cast the shock damage spell and lightning shot out from his hand, frying the Clannifear and making the air around it crackle with electricity. The Flame Atronarch had seen where the bolt had come from and ran towards Muhyo, hurling fireballs as it ran.

Muhyo quickly pulled out his sword and blocked most of the fireballs. Roji, who was still crouching and hadn't been seen yet, cast a fire shield on Muhyo and did the stupidest thing he could do; he ran at the Dremora.

The Dremora spun around and pulled out its sword, ready to strike, but Roji kept running towards it.

Once Roji was close enough, the Dremora swung its sword and Roji ducked, narrowly escaping decapitation.

Roji ducked under another swing and ran past the Dremora. The Dremora chased after Roji while swinging its sword at him, missing every time.

Roji jumped a second after the Dremora swung, and landed on top of a giant rock with a deep gash on the back of his leg. Roji shifted the weight off his bad leg and looked down at the Dremora, who was still trying to swing at him even though he was out of reach.

Roji strung an arrow on his bow and shot at the Dremora, not doing as much damage as he hoped he would. Roji shot six more arrows before the Dremora finally died.

Roji healed his leg and carefully slid off the rock before walking over to Muhyo, who was standing next to the dead Flame Atronarch.

Muhyo took out a health potion and chugged it down, bringing him back to full health. "We should repair our stuff before we move on." He bent down to take off his boots.

Roji examined the bow in his hands, which wasn't exactly in the best of shape. "Right. How many reapir hammers do you have?"

Muhyo shrugged. "Enough."

Roji hummed at the vague answer and started to untie his gauntlets.


	6. Chapter 7

After they had repaired the rest of their equipment, they continued down the narrow path. Roji looked around as they were walking and noticed clusters of weird plants. Curious, he stopped and leaned down to get a better look.

"Those are poisonous you know."

"Wait what!?" Roji jumped back as the flower shot out a cloud of poisonous gas that dissipated before it could reach Roji. Muhyo looked up at Roji. "Why would you put your face near something that you have no idea what it does, in a place where everything is trying to kill you?"

Roji gulped. "I just wanted to get a good look at it…" Muhyo shook his head and turned around. "You'd be dead now if it weren't for me."

Roji slumped his shoulders and followed Muhyo. "…I know."

Walking behind Muhyo, Roji looked up as the path began to curve left and saw a large stone column that had deteriorated at the base and was now leaning against the mountain on the other side of the path, forming a sort of archway.

Roji, being distracted as he was, didn't notice how the dirt path was becoming into one made of broken concrete slabs.

Roji's foot caught the edge of one of the slabs and he flailed his arms as he fell not-so-gracefully on his face. "Whoa—oof!" He groaned and looked up to see Muhyo laughing at him. Roji got up and brushed the dirt off his cuirass, pouting. "That wasn't funny Muhyo."

"Heh, you're right. It was hilarious." Roji sniffled. "You're so mean Muhyo…"

Muhyo, who had stopped laughing but was still smirking, continued down the broken concrete path with Roji following close behind.

Muhyo stopped when he saw a scamp farther up the path. "Roji, get your bow out."

"Huh? Why do… oh." Roji saw the scamp that Muhyo was looking at. "Why do you want me to kill it?"

"Because I can't snipe with a longsword, idiot." Roji sighed. "Okay I'll do it. There's no need for name calling…" Roji got out his bow and pulled an arrow back, aiming carefully at the scamp's midsection. "Here goes nothing."

Roji let go and watched as the arrow soared through the air…

…and landed in the dirt more than five feet away from its intended target. "Hey Roji, you know that thing called gravity?" Roji grumbled and reached back for another arrow. "Yeah yeah…" this time, he aimed a couple of feet above the scamp's head.

He released the arrow and instead of falling short this time, it went over the scamp's head and smashed into the rock behind it.

Roji's eye twitched as he stood there, staring at the scamp who seemed to be mocking him from afar. "You gonna just stand there or are you gonna try again?"

Roji grumbled and pulled back a third arrow. He aimed above the scamp's head but not as high as he did last time, and hoped that after this he wouldn't have to pull out a _fourth_ arrow.

The arrow finally hit its target, spearing right through the scamp's stomach, and the scamp fell lifeless to the ground. "Heh. Nice job, it only took three arrows."

Roji put his bow back and followed Muhyo, who was walking up a large mound of dirt and rock. "So mean…"

Muhyo looked around for a second and headed up a steep path on his right. Roji followed, and looking around noticed that they were almost in a tunnel, with the sheer stone wall on their left and the boulders and stones on their right that were too large to see over.

As they walked on, there would occasionally be another one of those large black claws in between a couple of stones on the right. The farther they walked, Roji noticed, the more the rocks on the right of the path seemed to thin out, giving him a few glimpses of the landscape below them.

All of a sudden the rocks just stopped, and Roji couldn't help but stare. Beneath the boiling red sky, large bloody claws ripped through the earth far below. There were ruined pillars scattered throughout the land, and the entire burnt, bloody land was surrounded in roiling lava.

At some point while Roji was distracted Muhyo must've walked up next to him, because he turned and saw Muhyo, as transfixed with the sight as he had been. And he wasn't sure… but he thought he saw a glimmer of doubt in Muhyo's eyes.

But as soon as he had noticed it Muhyo looked away and started to walk down the path again. "We should keep walking."

Roji followed close behind. "Yeah. The sooner we get out of here the better, right Muhyo?" Muhyo walked on without facing Roji. "Sure."

They continued to walk on in silence until they came upon a small black claw jutting up out of the ground with a fleshy pod hanging from the tip.

Roji looked down at Muhyo with a look that seemed to say 'please don't make me do this I'll do anything else'. Muhyo just grinned and motioned to the pod. Roji groaned and walked towards it and stuck his hand in, hoping there would be something useful inside.

He pulled out his slime-covered arm and opened his hand. He had a few gold pieces and a soul gem, none of which was useful.

"Gross… so not worth it." He tossed the junk onto the ground and attempted to scrape the slime off of his arm and out from underneath his armor. Muhyo continued to walk down the path once again. "Oh well, better luck next time." Roji shuddered. "Oh please don't let there be a next time."

They turned left, following the path, and they saw a huge stone tower, maybe fifty feet away, with two large pillars on each side and four large claws pointed towards the blood-red sky on the top of the tower, which despite how far away the tower was they both had to crane their necks to see the top.

They quickened their pace and Roji practically sprinted up the stone steps. He looked at Muhyo, who was taking longer to get up the steps. "This must be the tower that the note was talking about! We're finally going to make it out of this awful place!"

Muhyo walked next to him and stood next to the massive stone door. He shook his head "You didn't think it would be that easy, did you? There's probably going to be a lot more crap to deal with before we can make it to the top and get the sigil stone."

Roji sighed. "Yeah. You're right." He looked at the door and put his hand on the smooth stone. "Well," he laughed nervously, "we'd better go in there, I guess…"

Muhyo let out a breath before putting his hand on the door. "Yeah, let's go."


End file.
